Xenon
Xenon (氙, symbol Xe) is chemical element number 54, a Noble Gas in period 5, group 18 of the periodic table, with a standard atomic weight of about 131.29. Heavy, colorless noble gas. Used in flash lamps and ion engines for spacecraft.
Properties
| Atomic number | 54 |
|---|---|
| Symbol | Xe |
| Atomic mass | 131.29 u |
| Category | Noble Gas |
| Period | 5 |
| Group | 18 |
| Electron configuration | [Kr] 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p⁶ |
| Electronegativity | 2.6 |
| Covalent radius | 140 pm |
| Density | 0.005887 g/cm³ |
| Melting point | 161.4 K |
| Boiling point | 165.03 K |
| Discovery | Ramsay & Travers, 1898 |
Overview
Heavy, colorless noble gas. Used in flash lamps and ion engines for spacecraft. Xenon (Xe) is a Noble Gas with atomic number 54, located in period 5, group 18. As a noble gas it has a full outer shell, is extremely unreactive, and exists as a monatomic gas at room temperature.
It has the configuration [Kr] 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p⁶ and an electronegativity near 2.6; its 8 outer-shell electrons drive its bonding. Under standard conditions it exists as a gas (a very low melting point); it melts near 161.4 K (-111.7 °C), boils near 165.03 K (-108.1 °C), has a density around 0.005887 g/cm³.
It is widely used in Industrial Gas and Medical / Pharma. It was first described by Ramsay & Travers in 1898. The periodic trends guide explains the underlying patterns.
Electron shells
Electrons per shell: 2 · 8 · 18 · 18 · 8
Main uses
- Industrial Gas
- Medical / Pharma
Hazard
Compounds containing Xenon
No compounds in this knowledge base contain Xenon yet.
Data sources
Atomic mass uses IUPAC (CIAAW) standard atomic weights; the covalent radius is from Cordero et al. (2008). Verify on the RSC Periodic Table, PubChem and Wikipedia. Educational reference only.